Zach WahlsVerified account

I am running for Iowa Senate District 37, which is my home. It is where I grew up, where I went to high school, where I got my first job, and where I started my first business.

I'm running for a simple reason: our state is at a crossroads that will define the future of our state for generations to come.

And like so many people who have signed on with @runforsomething, I feel the responsibility to do my part.

No state in the country had a bigger swing from Obama in 2012 to Trump in 2016 than Iowa did. Iowa Republicans took over our state legislature and immediately began to dismantle our state's social foundation.

On health care: our state is experiencing a mental health crisis, and Iowa ranks dead last in the county — 51st! — in terms of public psychiatric beds per capita. Suicide rates are spiking in our rural communities, and Republicans are shutting down mental health facilities.

Medicaid privatization has been a disaster that is costing our state hundreds of millions of dollars. It is hurting tens of thousands of people, including right here in our district.

On Education — instead of making college *more* affordable for Iowans, Republicans are going in exactly the opposite direction, slashing $55M from higher education.

I was fortunate enough to graduate debt-free from the University of Iowa, for which I am incredibly grateful. We need *more* people graduating with *less* debt — Iowa Republicans are pushing the exact opposite.

Further, Iowa Republicans dramatically restricted the growth of K12 spending which hurts both students and teachers. On *top* of that, Iowa GOP gutted collective bargaining for public employees, including public school teachers.

We have to restore the growth in K12 spending, we have to protect everybody's right to form a union, and we have to recommit ourselves to building a strong social foundation for all Iowans.

Two quick notes about how we're going to run this campaign. FIRST, I am incredibly conscientious of the fact that I am a straight white guy running in the #MeToo moment.

I am running because I believe all Iowans need a seat at the table. That absolutely means more women running, it means more young people, it means more people of color.

This is an all hands on deck situation that is going to determine the future of our state for generations to come — and all hands means all hands.

I am going to listen to women. I am going to hold myself and the men around me accountable for our behavior. For our generation, this is a basic qualification, but I feel it is one that is important to name and to say out loud.

Standing up to patriarchy has been an important part of my work in support of LGBTQ rights and that is not going to stop now.

SECOND — I am currently a student at @WilsonSchool, finishing my master's degree in public policy. Princeton is allowing me to finish my degree while I am living and campaigning in Iowa.

I am going to attend my final classes remotely, be on campus a few days a month, and finish my degree from Iowa. Funnily enough, the primary election is the same day as commencement... so I won't be able to walk, but I will be able to run.

In these next five months, I will be traveling the district, visiting Solon and Tipton and Mechanicsville and Wilton and more — meeting with folks, listening to people’s stories, and hearing about your concerns and what you think our team’s priorities should be if we win.